The dust jacket reads:

There can never be a more penetrating, a more intimate biography of Gabriele D’Annuzio. Only Boswell comes quickly to mind as another biographer who spent a lifetime in close and constant association with his subject and deliberately devoted that time to storing up material for the biography he planned to write. Sigmor Antongini’s biography was written during D’Annunzio’s lifetime. It is almost certain that he realized that it was being written but he never saw any part of it be changed. In the brief introduction SIgnore Antongini refers to himself as a Judas in that he has not consciously concealed anything that he knew about D’Annunzio, but in telling the truth he rescues the poet’s memory from the fantasies that legend wove around him.

Few novelists would dare to attribute to a fictional character all the qualities and achievements of D’Annuzio. As a poet and dramatist he towered above his generation in his own country. He achieved both distinction as a fantastic reputation as a soldier. As a commander her took with a high hand a European city of importance, as a statesman held it for fifteen months against the combined forces of European diplomacy. His private life gave rise to stories without number and the true stories without number and the true stories are stranger than the gossip. If episodes in this book read like parts of “Duan Juan” or the memoirs of Cassanova, there are others that read like scenes from the “Arabian nights”.

For thirty years Signor Antogini was D’Annunzio’s secretary, factotum, companion, confidant. During much of that time he was working on this book, writing currently and always in the present tense. The result is an extraordinary biography.

This vintage hardcover is in Good condition. Dust jacket missing- a single panel of the original dustjacket is tucked into the book. Boards faded with spots on spine. Corners of boards are bumped, pages clean.